


All Bets Are Off

by bayoublackjack



Series: Stars & Stripes Forever [22]
Category: Doctor Who & Related Fandoms, Doctor Who (2005), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Adorable Bruce Banner, Avengers Tower, Bets & Wagers, Clint Barton & Tony Stark Friendship, Domestic Avengers, Drinking & Talking, F/M, POV Steve Rogers, Post-Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Steve Rogers & Natasha Romanov Friendship, Up all night to get Bucky
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-24
Updated: 2015-10-24
Packaged: 2018-04-27 20:57:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,818
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5063842
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bayoublackjack/pseuds/bayoublackjack
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>As Steve chases another lead that he hopes will lead him to Bucky, both Martha and Natasha have thoughts about how he should handle the situation.</p>
            </blockquote>





	All Bets Are Off

From the moment he woke from the ice, Steve Rogers had been looking for his place in the world.  It was a hard process, but slowly he began to carve out a life for himself.  The war was over but there were still battles left to fight.   He had lost his team but he gained a new one in Sam and the other Avengers.  Peggy had moved on but now he had Martha in his life.   However, for all the losses he suffered and gains he earned, there was still one final piece that was missing from the puzzle.

The search to find Bucky began the moment Natasha handed off the folder to him in cemetery, but so far all his leads turned up empty.  The trip to Dallas was just the latest in a long line of disappointments.  It didn’t take long for him to find another lead though.

When he and Martha had arranged for her sister Tish to meet the other Avengers at the Tower, Natasha pulled him aside for a brief moment to let him in on some intel that had crossed her path.  “There’s a facility in southern Austria.  Rumor has it that Hydra used it for biological experiments during the war.  It could be something or it might be nothing,” she told him with a shrug.  “But I promised to keep an ear to the ground.”

“It’s a start,” Steve replied.

Natasha nodded.  “You’re gonna need a team.”  She glanced at the others enjoying the party atmosphere.  He followed her line of sight to Tish snapping photos on her phone with Thor, Tony and Clint while Martha quietly chatted with Bruce off to the side.

Steve shook his head and turned his eyes back to Natasha.  “Not on this one.  You know why.”

“Yea.”  Natasha peeked at the group once more.  Steve didn’t have to look to know where her eyes were.  “That’s a bombshell to drop another day,” she agreed.  “So maybe this isn’t a fight for the Avengers, but it doesn’t change the fact that you can’t go in there alone.”

“So we won’t,” Steve replied.

“We?”  Natasha’s eyes flashed in his direction.  “What makes you think I want to risk my neck for your little pet project?”

“Because you wouldn’t have told me what you found out if you weren’t in,” Steve reasoned.

The corner of Natasha’s mouth twitched upward.  “You’re getting sassy in your old age.”

Steve shoved his hands into his pockets and shrugged.  “You can take the boy out of Brooklyn, but you can’t take the Brooklyn out of the boy.”

“Alright, Brooklyn, I’ll work out logistics,” Natasha said as she reached for her beer bottle.  “You figure out how to break the news to the Mrs.,” she added as one final tease before she rejoined the group.

Martha walked over to him after Natasha took her leave.  “That looked intense,” she observed.

“You know Natasha.”

“Not as well as I know you,” Martha countered.  “What’s going on?”

Steve did a quick sweep of the room before answering.  “There might be another lead.”

“Might?” Martha questioned with a frown.

“Natasha is looking into it.  When she knows more, I’ll know more.”

“And then I’ll know more?” Martha asked.

If Steve was honest, all his hesitancy to let Martha in on things was out of a desire to keep her safe, but he knew that wasn’t what she wanted.  Martha was as fierce as she was gentle and although she wasn’t the type to go looking for fights, she definitely wasn’t the kind of person that ran away from one either.

Steve pulled his hands from his pocket and reached for her.  “No secrets, right?”

“That’s what we said,” Martha agreed with a nod as she leaned into him.

“When I know, you’ll know,” Steve vowed and sealed his promise with a kiss.

“Call it!” Clint barked as Steve and Martha pulled back.

Tony looked at his watch.  “A minute twelve,” he answered with a groan.  “Dammit Barton!”  He flashed a disgruntled glare in Steve and Martha’s direction as he slapped a wad of cash into Clint’s hand.

Martha huffed softly.  “Are you lot betting on us again?”

“Some people never learn,” Clint retorted with a wide grin while he counted up the bills.  Once he was finished, he slipped half to Natasha and a couple to Tish.

“You bet against me?  Is that how it is now?” Tony asked Tish, sounding almost betrayed.  “I thought we were having a moment before.”

“Oh don’t worry.  You’re still my favorite, but there’s no way I’d put money up against a sure thing,” Tish answered before taking a sip of her champagne.

Steve folded his arms across his chest.  “And what was the sure thing?”

Bruce cleared his throat.  “That you two couldn’t go two minutes without…”

“Feeding your passions,” Thor supplied.

Bruce frowned in the Asgardian’s direction.  “Somehow that makes sound much worse than it actually was.”

“If you two need some time alone, you can have the flat,” Tish offered.  “I can always spend the night here, yea?”  She looked at Tony hopefully.

“Mi torre es su torre,” Tony answered between sips of scotch.

“I promise I don’t take up much room.  I don’t even mind sharing,” Tish insisted.  She turned towards Bruce with bright eyes and a wicked smile.  “I won’t even hog the covers.”

Tony lowered his glass and lifted a brow then turned his attention to Clint.  “Double or nothing?” he asked, nodding his head towards Tish and a flustered looking Bruce.

“Banner is a disciplined man,” Thor commented at Tony’s side.  “Yet the lady Letitia is beautiful and tenacious in equal measure.” 

“The Jones women have great genes,” Tony admitted.  “I get it.  I’ve got eyes.  And obviously that was enough to get Cap to un-clutch his pearls, but my boy over there has nerves of steel.”

Thor lifted his flask and nodded in approval.  “A worthy battle to be sure.”

Clint thought it over before looking to Natasha, who only offered a halfhearted shrug.  He took another look at Tish as she leaned in close to Bruce and whispered something in his ear causing him to nearly drop his drink.  “I’ll take that bet,” Clint quickly confirmed.

“Have I ever told you how ridiculous your mates are?” Martha asked Steve.

Steve exhaled sharply and looked at her.  “Do you want to step in or should I?”

“The only one I’m going home with is you, Tish,” Martha told her sister, effectively saving Bruce from all talk of bets and sleeping arrangements.  “You fly back to London tomorrow and we still need to get you packed.”

Tish sighed softly and gave Bruce a quick peck on the cheek.  “Maybe next time, mean green,” she suggested playfully as she stood up.

The Jones sisters said their goodbyes, though Steve made a point to refrain from kissing Martha in front of the others again.  Afterwards, he retreated back to his apartment within the Tower to sleep and by the time he woke up, Natasha had news for him and a team assembled.

Steve tracked Martha down outside of her apartment just as she was returning from taking Tish to the airport and gave her the rundown of the mission ahead.  Natasha had confirmation that the Hydra base in question was operational during the time of Bucky’s fall.  Whether or not it had been used to transform him into the Winter Soldier, they wouldn’t know for sure until they infiltrated the presumably abandoned facility for more information.  The key word being presumably.  With Hydra out of the shadows, there was no telling which of their previous haunts were up and running again.  They were rushing into the snake pit blind and the threat wasn’t lost on Martha.

“Steve,” she began patiently once he was done talking.  “This is dangerous.  _Extremely_ dangerous.  You can’t just rush in there halfcocked like you typically do.  You’ll get hurt.  Or worse.”

“Martha—”

“I’m begging you not to do this,” she cut him off quickly.  “Or if you must, at least don’t do it alone.  Take your team,” she pleaded.  “I know what the Winter Soldier did…who he killed…but Bucky wasn’t himself at the time.”

“Martha.”

“Please tell him,” Martha begged.  “The truth will hurt.  There’s no escaping that, but it doesn’t mean Tony wouldn’t help you if you asked.  He’s your friend.”

Steve took a deep breath, letting it out slowly.  He had no doubt in his mind that Tony would be able to help him locate Bucky.  His biggest concern, however, was what Tony would want to do once he was found.  The fact of the matter was that the Winter Soldier was responsible for Howard and Maria’s deaths and there was no telling how Tony would react when faced with his parents’ killer.  That made Tony a wild card.  So as much as the Avengers’ help would benefit the cause, there were already too many variables deal with as it was for Steve to risk their involvement.

“Believe me…I know the risks and nothing about this situation is ideal.”  Steve cupped her face in the palm of his hand.  “But I’m asking you to understand why I have to do it this way.”

Martha closed her eyes and exhaled sharply through her nose.  “I do understand, but I don't like this at all.  I—”

Steve cut her words off with a kiss.  It was firm but tender and he could feel her go a bit weak in the knees before he released her.  “If you don’t want to help, I respect your decision, but I have to go,” he said as he pulled away.

Martha opened her eyes and looked at his retreating form.  “Steven Grant Rogers!”  She chased him down the street with gritted teeth.  “You can’t just kiss me in the middle of a bloody serious conversation and then just walk away thinking all is forgiven!” she yelled.  “I swear to bloody God if you go and get yourself killed, I’ll murder you!”

Steve slowed down a notch to give her a chance to catch up with him.  “If I die, you’ll kill me?” he questioned with a slight smirk.  “That makes no sense.”

“I’m incredibly cross.  I don’t have to make sense,” Martha protested.  “Besides, I’m a doctor.  I can resuscitate you and kill you again.”

Steve stole a glance quick at her.  “Are you that mad?”

Martha kept her eyes ahead as they walked.  “I’m not angry with you, Cap, I’m concerned.  For you.  For Bucky.  Tony.  _Everyone_ involved.”

“So are you in?”

Martha looked him in the eyes and nodded.  “If we go down…we go down together.”

“Good because we need to get to Jersey and meet Natasha,” he insisted as they reached his motorcycle.

“What’s in New Jersey?”

Steve passed her a helmet.  “The rest of our team.”


End file.
